Examination regulations Data Protection Auditor Certification Training

Version 1.2 of 10 June 2021

Article 1: General

  1. For the readability of the text, only the he/his form is used. All provisions relating to students or other persons specified in these regulations are of course without gender discrimination.
  2. Exam or resit shall be understood to mean any evaluation of the extent to which a student has acquired the competences connected with a course unit on the grounds of his studies.
  3. The language of the exam (both oral and written) is Dutch or French. Students must have sufficient command of Dutch or French to be able to correctly interpret the written and oral questions and to correctly present their answers in both written and oral form.

Article 2: Admission requirements

  1. A student can only take the exam if the registration fee for the course has been paid in full.
  2. A student will only be admitted to the exam if he has participated in every day of the course.
  3. If a student wishes to resit an exam, he should let us know in writing by email, with specification of the date on which he wishes to take the resit. He will then receive an invoice for EUR 200 (excluding VAT).
  4. A third exam opportunity is not possible.
  5. The attendance certificate that needs to be signed by the participants every day applies as proof.
  6. In exceptional circumstances (e.g. illness, death of a relative, legal reason, accident, public transport strike, force majeure) the student may be granted dispensation from participating in a lesson. A valid certificate of absence must be submitted to the organisation (via email info@dp-institute.eu) as soon as possible.
  7. The student must be able to identify himself at all times if an examiner so requests.

Article 3: Exam type

  1. The exam is usually taken on Wednesday afternoon (writing a report) and Friday afternoon of the same week of the course. In case of force majeure, the exam can be postponed to another day at any time.
  2. The exam consists of the following four parts:
    • Wednesday afternoon: drawing up an audit report. This section is marked out of 30; the use of books or any other lesson materials is permitted;
    • Friday afternoon: multiple choice questions (40 questions) about the entire content of the course, with 4 multiple choice answers each (without correction for guessing). This section is marked out of 40 (1 point per question); the use of books or any other lesson materials is not permitted;
    • Friday afternoon: open-ended questions (5 questions of 2 points per question); this section is marked out of 10; the use of books or any other lesson materials is not permitted;
    • Friday afternoon: open-ended questions (4 questions of 5 points per question); this section is marked out of 20; the use of books or any other lesson materials is not permitted.
  3. The student must always take the four parts specified above, even if he resits an exam.
  4. The marks of the four parts are added up, resulting in a score of 100. The student must have at least 70 marks out of 100 to pass and must also have at least 50% for the four components.

Article 4: Organisation of the exam

  1. The exam on Wednesday afternoon starts at 13:00 (unless otherwise specified by the organisers) and ends at 17:00. The exam on Friday afternoon starts at 13:00 (unless otherwise specified by the organisers) and ends at 15:00.
  2. The student shall strictly respect the laid down schedule and place of the exam; students arriving late may still be admitted to the exam (subject to proof of force majeure and the approval of the organisers), but the final duration of the exam shall not be adjusted for these students.
  3. In case of force majeure, the student may request to take the exam at a later date, subject to providing the necessary supporting documents. This new date must coincide with the already scheduled exam sessions of courses scheduled later, and will only be granted after consultation with the examiners and the course organisers. The original supporting documents of the force majeure shall be submitted to the course organisers within five calendar days after the day of the exam, either in person or by email (info@dp-institute.eu).
  4. The examiner shall strictly respect the laid down schedule and place of the exam. In case of an examiner’s absence and in the absence of any notification from the latter, the exam schedule expires after a waiting period of 1 hour. The organisers shall draw up a new exam schedule in consultation with the student. This new date must coincide with the already scheduled exam sessions of courses scheduled later. Under no circumstance shall any costs incurred by the student be recovered from the organisers of the course.
  5. During the course, the organisation of the exam is explained in the introduction. Also, before the start of the exam, the structure of the exam and the various parts are explained again.
  6. Use of toilets is allowed during the exam, but only one student at a time and without taking exam questions and written preparation.
  7. Mobile phones, laptops, tablets and other electronic equipment must be kept in the bag of the participant and may not be used or taken to the toilet or the oral exam if this takes place in another room.
  8. For students with a recognised status or for students in temporary special individual circumstances of a physical or psychological nature, an adaptation of the exam format or the use of a technical aid is possible following approval by the organisers. The organisers are notified of this on the first day of the training at the latest.
  9. The written tests of Friday afternoon shall be answered on a special answer sheet for which the following rules apply:
    • Only one answer is correct;
    • A wrong answer or more than one coloured option is a zero;
    • If an option was coloured mistakenly, the wrong answer must be clearly crossed out and the student must also initial the correct answer;
    • The form should be completed in blue or black ballpoint;
    • In addition to colouring the options, only the surname, first name and signature may be entered on the answer sheet.
  10. No writing is allowed on the task sheet.
  11. The student is responsible for filling out his personal and administrative data completely and correctly on the special answer sheet for the exam.
  12. Recording an exam by the student or third parties using sound and/or video recordings is not permitted.

Article 5: Irregularities

  1. If an examiner or staff member suspects or establishes that a student is committing an irregularity during the exam, he must report this to the course organiser without delay. The latter shall inform the student and may terminate the current exam of this student, if necessary after confiscating the disputed documents and the work already done. Therefore, the student will not pass this exam.
  2. An irregularity is considered to be any behaviour by a student within the context of an exam that unjustly favours him or another student with regard to the results obtained. Examples include cheating, unauthorised use of course materials, mobile phones, laptops or any other electronic material, taking home exam questions or written preparations without permission, etc.
  3. Whether the irregularity is the result of a deliberate choice by the student and whether or not it has given the person concerned an unfair advantage is irrelevant for the factual determination.

Article 6: Exam board and deliberation

  1. The exam board is composed of at least two examiners, two instructors and two organisers.
  2. The exam board meets in the event of an irregularity or complaint.
  3. The exam board can change an exam mark in case of a material error, a gross irregularity or manifest unreasonableness.
  4. Material errors in favour of the student will be rectified up to 14 calendar days after the date of the exam. Material errors to the disadvantage of the student shall be corrected at all times. Material errors without influence on the success or failure of the student shall be rectified up to 14 days after the date of the exam. If the exam mark was affected by fraud, the exam board can review its decision at any time.
  5. A decision on a student or an exam is taken by simple majority.
  6. The members of the exam board and all persons present at the session are bound to secrecy concerning the deliberations and votes.

Article 7: Announcement of results

  1. After each exam, the results are checked by at least two people, independently of each other.
  2. All students will receive a general email stating whether they passed or not at the latest one calendar week after the day of the exam. This mail also specifies who had the highest score of that group (but without specification of the score).
  3. On request, students can receive their individual marks.

Article 8: Complaints and appeal

  1. If the student believes that the obtained result is incorrect, he may inform the organisers of this in writing at the latest 14 days after notification of the results. The latter will contact the student within 14 days (either via email or telephone).
  2. If a student does not pass his first exam and to help him properly prepare for his resit, the organiser will give the student some examples of incorrectly completed answers together with some tips and points of attention. The entire exam will not be reviewed. Only the answer sheet filled out by the student shall be available, together with the correction key.
  3. If a student does not pass the resit, he can be given access to the entire exam by means of a personal meeting. The results of the exam are not given to the student.

Article 9: Resit

  1. If a student fails to pass the exam, he may register for a resit.
  2. The cost price for this second exam session is EUR 200 (excl. VAT). The student can only take part in the resit if this payment has been made.
  3. For this second exam session, the same subject matter needs to be known as for the first exam. Even if the student has passed one or several of the four parts during the first exam, ALL four parts must be resat.
  4. The student may choose whether/when to resit the exam, as long as this is done within three months of taking the first exam. However, it is recommended to take the resit as soon as possible after the first exam. In any case, the resit coincides with the exam sessions of the courses scheduled later. The student does not take part in these later courses but only takes part in the exam session of that particular week.
  5. There is no appeal procedure in case of failure to pass the resit. If you do not pass the resit, you have to follow the course again.

Article 10: Protection of personal data

  1. The student has the right to the protection of his personal data as provided during the exam, such as surname, first name and the results obtained.
  2. By enrolling in the course and participating in the exam, the student authorises the organisers to process this personal data.
  3. Exam copies, written preparations, certificates of absence and exam board reports are kept for a maximum period of 1 year.
  4. Additional information on the protection of personal data can be found in the privacy policy, which is available on the Data Protection Institute website.